War Tax Resistance in the Friends Journal in 1994

War tax resistance in the Friends Journal in
1994

American Quaker war tax resistance reemerged in the Friends
Journal in 1994, with some real live
resisters telling their stories and sharing the processes by which they had
developed their methods of resistance.

The February issue had several mentions of war
tax resistance. Editor Vinton Deming’s lead editorial concerned his annual
confrontation of the “agonizing question” of what to do at tax-filing time.
Excerpt:

an ad from the February 1994 issue of
Friends Journal

For many years I sought ways to protest. I started by submitting a letter
with my 1040 objecting to the large sums going to the Pentagon and the
neglect of other needed programs. No one responded. At other times I
requested a refund so I might send a sum to a human service program not being
adequately funded. Nice idea, I thought, but
IRS
didn’t think so. One year they told me the request was “frivolous,” and they
tried to penalize me for asking. My lawyer got them to drop the matter. Then
about 15 years ago I stopped filing a tax return altogether, choosing instead
to write a letter to the president explaining why I was not willing as a
Friend to pay for things like B-1 bombers, cruise missiles, or Star Wars.

The latter approach clearly got the attention of
IRS
officials. Suddenly I was “playing in the big leagues.” The government took
me to court on two occasions and threatened to do the same to my present
employer unless my back taxes, interest, and penalties were paid at once
[see ♇ 9
August 2013]. Reluctantly, and after much soul searching, the
Journal agreed to pay. I released them to do so,
being convinced we had resisted as long as we could and had explored all
legal means. Friends rallied to support us with financial gifts to help pay
the large debt. In December 1993 I made my
last monthly payment to the Journal.

I continue to struggle with
IRS on
this matter, which dates back to my tax resistance of
the 1980s. The government disagreed with
our math for what we believed was actually owed in back taxes. My lawyer is
maneuvering to try to prevent
IRS
from seizing my Individual Retirement Account, an argument to be decided by a
judge later this year.

In more recent tax years I have filed and paid, trying to claim as many
exemptions as possible and to limit the government’s take. I have lobbied for
the Peace Tax Fund Bill and supported others who are resisting.

David Shen also wrote of his war tax resistance in that issue. Excerpts:

For 12 years, I have withheld a portion of my income tax from
IRS. I
refuse to give money to the military to kill people. There is too much need
around us. For the last three years, I have given this portion to My
Brothers’ House, a homeless shelter my Quaker meeting supports in the inner
city of Philadelphia. Each year at tax time, I sigh deeply. I know
IRS may
punish me. And I know I stand on the side of life.

For these 12 years,
IRS and
I have been corresponding politely. They send me notices; I write back. Since
I received notices of intent to levy and since they have not levied, I assume
I have been lost in their millions of files. I was surprised, then, when my
college employer received the levy on my salary.

My first talks with
IRS,
lawyers, and F/friends left me feeling depressed and helpless.
IRS
would get what they thought was theirs.

Then God intervened. Inadvertently, my lawyer angered me. In my anger, I took
a position of reducing my wages to a level
IRS
could not levy. (By law
IRS
must leave me a wage to live on.) I had not considered it before, since doing
so would cost me $2,200 — more than the levy’s $1,200.

I think Shen is being too modest here in giving God the credit for a bold
decision that came direct from Shen.

I approached the college dean, my superior. “Reduce my wages,” I said, “so
IRS
cannot satisfy its levy.” But the dean shocked me. Her superior, the vice
president, would not allow me to reduce my wages. I had to quit or pay the
levy.

That sounds very familiar. When I first started resisting, I went in to the
human resources department of my employer to ask if reducing my salary below
the tax line was an option. They told me it was out of the question. My
response was to resign and become an independent contractor. Shen took a
different tack:

After a conversation with one of my students, I decided to continue teaching
and pay the levy. I would, however, also continue learning about love and
Truth. Could I reach administrators, I wondered, if I used Gandhi’s principle
of selfsuffering? I would direct suffering to me, and not to the college, by
teaching at reduced income rather than quitting and leaving the college with
80 angry students.

I met with the administrator who wrote my paycheck, the department chair, the
dean again, and then the vice-president. Three respected my position (the
vicepresident didn’t reveal his stand). The payroll administrator blurted
out, “Isn’t there a legal way you can do this (pay income tax without paying
the military)?”

When I met with the president of the college, six weeks had passed and the
levy was almost fully paid. He was busy. He startled me by agreeing with my
right to take my position, and he would seek how I could do so at the
college. Two weeks later, he informed me he could not find a legal way to
accommodate me.

I, though, was thrilled. In our two conversations, the president and I
connected. We talked about my tax situation for 20 minutes and unexpectedly
talked about his and my family for 90 minutes. He was late for one of his
appointments. As I waved goodbye, he asked, “Stop in for coffee again, will
you?”

What did I learn? I am poorer by $1,200, but I am richer in intangible ways.
I feel in the flow of God’s will for me and feel connected to
people — F/friends who support me and opponents who respect me. I am
invigorated and happy

It must be comforting to feel that “God’s will” is responsible for all the
difficult and fuzzy decisions you make. Whether you zig or you zag, whether
things turn out well or ill, God’s in charge and if you’re willing to give Him
all the credit, He’ll be glad to take all the blame.

The same issue published part of an interview that Susan Van Haitsma conducted
with Paula Rogge the previous year. Excerpts:

What were the motivating factors in your decision to become a tax
resister?

Deciding to refuse to pay taxes for war was a slow, gradual process for
me… As I grew older and attended Illinois Yearly Meeting, I heard more
about tax resistance. I met two men who had served time in prison for
refusing to pay war taxes or resisting cooperation with the Internal
Revenue Service. I saw them as very committed people with a lot of
integrity, and I could see that the yearly meeting supported them. So, at
some level I felt that tax resistance was the logical extension of my
pacifist views, and I knew there was a community of support for tax
resistance among the Friends and the wider peace community as well.…

How did you go about your tax resistance?

That first year, I think I owed one dollar. I refused to pay the dollar
and sent a letter to the
IRS
explaining my position. The next year, I increased the number of
withholding allowances on my W-4 form so that I owed the
IRS
at the end of the year instead of vice-versa. I began by refusing to pay
40–50 percent of my federal tax money because at the time, that was the
approximate percentage being used to fund current and past wars. Then,
over time, I realized that of the 50–60 percent I was paying, 40–50
percent was still being used for military purposes, so I stopped paying
the whole kit and caboodle. I stopped paying all taxes because I had no
control whatsoever over how the money was being spent. In the last
several years I’ve also stopped paying social security taxes because the
government borrows from those funds to help cover the deficit, indirectly
financing the defense system. So, it’s been a gradual process of taking
my tax resistance further and further. I’ve always filed, and the
IRS
and I have always agreed about how much I’ve owed (now over $60,000
including penalties and interest). At this point, I don’t feel led to
stop filing. For myself, I feel better being open about it, but I realize
many tax resisters don’t file, and I respect their reasons for going that
route.

Have you redirected your tax money?

The first couple of years that I did tax resistance, I put the money
aside in a bank account, assuming it would be seized. It wasn’t seized
right away, however, and I’m afraid the money was spent without having
been donated as it should have. But I learned, and since then I’ve made
sure the amount of money owed in taxes and social security is donated
every year to charitable groups. I’ve had a lot of fun giving this money
away. Sometimes when I have sent the contribution, I have included a note
explaining that the donation represents refused war taxes, and I have
received supportive notes in return. It’s a very empowering feeling to
know that my money is doing some good.

Have there been special ways in which you would say your life has been
affected positively by your practice of tax resistance?

When I finished my residency, I worked in a migrant clinic for two years
in the Rio Grande Valley in Harlingen, Texas: a very conservative
community. The second year I was there, I wrote a letter to the editor of
the local paper explaining that I was a war tax resister and why. The
newspaper editor phoned me to make sure I really wanted the letter
printed! I said yes, and they did print it. I was afraid of the response
I might get from the community, but I felt it was important to be public
about my stance. After the letter was printed, the other doctors in
Harlingen actually became much friendlier and began to take a certain
interest in me. I don’t think any of them agreed with the tax resistance,
but they seemed to respect my position. Several nurses and a nuclear
medicine technician I hadn’t known before introduced themselves and
expressed their support of my war tax resistance. I didn’t get
any negative reactions. In 1987, I
began a medical family practice in Austin, Texas, along with another
doctor. The first year into the practice, the
IRS
sent notice that my wages would be garnisheed. I asked that my salary be
lowered to $100 per week, as that is the amount exempt from levy. In
order to supplement this reduced income, I began to work moonlighting
jobs in various agencies: the city Health Department, Planned Parenthood,
and the State Commission for the Blind, for example. I had to find new
moonlighting jobs every two years or so because that was about the length
of time it usually took the
IRS
to catch up and begin attaching wages again. Something good happened as a
result of this. I’ve had to explain to all potential employers that at
some point the
IRS
would begin to levy my wages and when that happened, I would no longer be
able to work for them. When I explained this to the Texas Commission for
the Blind during my interview, for example, they were quite taken aback,
and I thought I probably wouldn’t get the job. But, a few weeks later,
they did hire me! The woman who hired me said she understood why I was
doing tax resistance and that she agreed with my convictions. I came to
feel a real sense of support and community there.

In March of 1990, the
IRS
seized your automobile. Could you describe what happened?

Well, some time before the car was seized, an
IRS
agent, accompanied by a law officer, came to our clinic to pay me a
visit. I could tell they were nervous and even a bit hostile. But as we
sat and talked, and I explained why I simply could not pay for war, I
could see them both soften a little. Toward the end of the interview, the
officer began asking questions about our practice and commented that it
was unusual for us to be located in such a poor neighborhood. As they
were leaving, I complemented the officer on his cowboy boots — he had on
some kind of exotic boots — and I think he was tickled pink that I had
noticed them. He told me where he had gotten them. It was kind of a
humorous exchange and I felt very good about that. We had related as
people. I figured that since my wages had become uncollectible and I had
no bank account, eventually my car would be seized. But even so, the
morning it happened, it came as a bit of a shock. My
IRS
agent came to the bouse and, poor woman, she was just shivering in her
shoes, she looked so nervous. She placed a sticker on the car and then
asked if she could use my phone to call the tow truck! I decided that
they were going to tow it one way or another, so I invited her in to use
the phone. I had a sick patient in the emergency room at the time, so I
took a taxi to the hospital right away. Having a patient to worry about
took my mind off the car long enough to ease my worry about the
situation. Then friends came forward and loaned me their cars without my
having to ask. A month following the seizure, the car was auctioned.
About 20–30 Quakers and other friends came and protested the auction,
asking potential buyers not to bid on the car. At least one potential
buyer was convinced to refrain from bidding, but a used car dealer did,
in the end, buy the car. A week following the auction, a doctor I had
once worked with phoned and said that he wanted to buy the car back from
the car dealer and donate it anonymously to our practice. That was such a
wonderful surprise. I was very moved because I respected him very much as
a doctor. I talked the offer over with friends. Though I didn’t want the
money going, even indirectly, to the
IRS,
I did want this doctor to have an opportunity to support the whole cause
of war tax resistance, and this was his way of contributing. I decided to
accept the car. It came back with new tires, looking much cleaner than it
had before it was seized! A friend of the doctor had also done a tune-up
on it — and it was great. I think the best part of this story is that
when I tell it, people chuckle. You see, it’s such a good example of how
limited the power of the
IRS
is in the face of creative resistance. It’s also an example of how our
needs are often met in unexpected ways when we take a stand for peace. I
think these three experiences in particular — the return of my car,
receiving the job at the Commission for the Blind, and the reaction to
the letter in Harlingen paper — were all occasions when I felt that
speaking out for truth actually opened doors and tore down
barriers between other people and me. When I was willing to take a stand
for what I felt was right, I discovered a community of support I hadn’t
realized existed.

Perry Treadwell also wrote about his war tax resistance in that issue.
Excerpts:

Today I received another one of those white envelopes from the Internal
Revenue Service — the ones that tell me I failed to pay $35 in
1986 or $106 in 1988
and now I owe a lot more in penalties and interest. I file them away with the
other ones from last year and the year
before.

But this time their arrival reminded me of an anniversary of sorts. It has
been 20 years since I first refused to pay that
portion of my federal income taxes which, I believed, went to war. I
refused to pay for people to kill other people.

A year later I resigned my tenured university
position [see ♇
22 July 2013] and drastically
simplified my lifestyle so the fruits of my labors would not be used for war.

I still get that little twist in the stomach when those
IRS
letters come. Sometimes the
IRS
actually raids a bank account or Individual Retirement Account. However, I
know that Friends are there should I ever need their support in not
cooperating with a government whose only answer to conflict is violence. I
have been able to simplify my life to a point where I am below the taxable
level. Friends’ support has helped.

The richness of my life is proportional to my friendships. That is what I
have learned in 20 years, and that is what
I pass on to others.

The May issue had an obituary notice for Jane
Palmer which noted that she “chose to live in accordance with the Quaker peace
testimony and purposefully limited her income to avoid paying taxes that
supported war efforts,” and one for Mildred Teusler Ringwalt which mentioned
“her refusal to pay the portion of her income taxes she believed supported
such [war] efforts.”

One of the events at the Friends General Conference Gathering in
July — the “Henry J. Cadbury Event,
sponsored by Friends Journal” — was “an original
production in story and song about the war tax witness of Randy Kehler and
Betsy Corner from Colrain, Massachusetts. The stage performance won a
favorable review from those who crowded the auditorium (despite the heat and
lack of air conditioning!). A video of the show was made and will be available
at a later date.”

At the Illinois Yearly Meeting in July
(according to a Journal article
the following February), “Sebrina Tingley
explained not just the nuts and bolts of war tax resistance but also the
spiritual call to do so” and “Bill Ramsey (American Friends Service Committee)
told of his personal experiences involving war tax resistance.”

The lead editorial of the September issue was
all about the Peace Tax Fund Bill and an effort to get 10,000 people to write
letters to Congress supporting it. “The Peace Tax Fund Bill,” according to one
supporter’s letter, “when it becomes law, will give us our religious liberty.
We’ll be able to pay our taxes in good conscience since we’ll be allowed to
pay for peaceful projects rather than for war.”

Two letters-to-the-editor in the December
issue reacted to that project: one, by Marge Schier, thanking the
Journal for aiding the cause — “We’re even more sure
now that we can do it!” — and the other, by Elizabeth Campuzano, giving the
gist of the letter she had sent: “I told them that I voluntarily live below
the federal poverty limit in order to avoid paying income taxes for war. I
told them that if this bill passes, I will raise my income in order to pay for
education, road and bridge repairs, anti-monopoly enforcement,
etc.” She added:
“I think this is one of the greatest things FJ has ever done!”

International news

A report about the previous year’s Canadian Yearly Meeting in the
February issue mentioned that “[t]he ad hoc
committee on war tax concerns has found a method which potentially will allow
Canadian Yearly Meeting to redirect the military portion of employees’ income
tax remittances to the federal government’s Debt Service and Reduction Fund.
This is not an entirely satisfactory solution, but perhaps a first step.”

1994’s Canadian Yearly Meeting
(according to a story in the March 1995 issue)
“reached joyful unity in a decision as an employer to stop remitting to Revenue Canada the military portion of taxes for those employees who request it.”

This decision follows several years of study, prayerful consideration, and
the attempt during early 1994 for use of
legal means of expressing our conscientious objection to paying for the
military. The remittance will instead be paid into Conscience Canada, with
consideration given to establishing in the future a specific trust fund.

The Fifth International Conference on War Tax Resistance and Peace Tax
Campaigns was held in Spain in September
and was covered in the Journalthe following June in a report by Steve Gulick.
Excerpt:

About 70 activists from all over Europe and a number of other parts of the
world gathered in Hondarribia, Spain,
September 16–18, 1994, to charge our
batteries, to compare conditions in our various countries, to get to know
each other, and to carry on business. It was inspiring to meet, get to know,
and work with war tax resisters and peace campaigners from all over Europe
and from the United States, Canada, Peru, Iraq, and Palestine. The National
War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee raised money to make it possible
for the Palestinian, Elias Rishmawi from Beit Sahour, West Bank, to attend.
The Iraqi and the Peruvian attenders are currently living in Europe. One
problem with the gathering — similar to the War Resisters International
gathering that I attended in 1979 — was the
difficulty of getting a diverse attendance. Folks from India were unable to
attend, for example, in part because of the distance.

I attended as a delegate from the War Tax Concerns Support Committee of
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting. Other attenders from the United States were
David Bassett and Marian Franz (National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund),
Susan Quinlan and Larry Rosenwald (National War Tax Resistance Coordinating
Committee), Cynthia Johnson (Women Strike for Peace), and Gerri Michalska
(Pax Christi) — which gave some of us from the
U.S. movement the
opportunity to get to know each other.

The conference issued a number of public documents — the most important being
the bylaw of a new non-governmental organization which will have consultative
powers with both the
UN and the
European parliament: Conscience and Peace Tax International. The role/goal of
the organization will be to espouse the cause of those who take stands of
conscience in relation to military expenditures — and also military service
and issues of conscience and civil and human rights more generally.

A report back from the November Germany
Yearly Meeting mentioned war tax resistance matter-of-factly:

In our commitments to projects such as “alternatives to violence,” civilian
peace service, war tax refusal, and in our decision to give financial support
to the setting up of a Quaker Center in Moscow, Russia, we express that we
not only ask ourselves “how do we see God?” but also “how do we do God?”…

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